Do you know that the human brain is capable of processing an image 60000 times faster than a text?
This statistic stems from tests conducted in the field of science.
It is now exploited by many companies that manage a ton of data per day, data from databases, CRM or spreadsheets.
These companies now favor the visual to decrypt complex data.
Often attached to Big Data, data visualization is a tool for studying large volumes of data.
Here’s all you need to know about data visualization especially when operating in the field of commerce and marketing.
How to define data visualization?
According to marketing experts, data visualization can be defined as version 2.0 of visual communication.
It consists of transforming complex data into simple visual representations to facilitate the understanding and exploitation of data.
The goal of this strategy is to make information accessible to everyone, or more specifically to people who can make decisions based on the data collected.
But how to represent complex digital data in a simpler way?
First of all, remember that the process of data transformation in the field of data visualization is the same as the type of digital data to be studied.
The processed data can then take different forms:
chronological representation, pie chart, video animations, computer graphics and many more.
These graphic representations have one thing in common: the ability to synthesize the information communicated through the data so that it is accessible to as many people as possible.
Note that the data visualization technique has always existed except that it has taken another dimension with marketing and with the amount of information to be processed.
To practice data analysis by visualization, start by gathering the raw and relevant data about what you want to process.
For example, if you manage a B2B company, gather the demographics you have about your prospects or customers.
- Also take into account the actions they lead through the web to mention the number of downloads, clicks or visits.
- Note also other essential information such as the problems they encounter on a daily basis.
- Now that you have all the data collected, process and format them so that they are sorted in the same format.
This step is important because if the data to be processed is not on the same scale, the visual representations that you will make may contain errors.
Now format the data so that it makes sense. During this operation, make sure that the most important information is put forward so that it is understood at a glance.
If you’ve done well with data visualization, the data you’ve processed is now easier to understand.
The different trends are clearly visible thanks to the use of colors and shapes.
Specificities of the data visualization
Now that you know what data visualization is, know that it contains many technical specificities. To find the best graphical representation, you need to do a lot of work.
Your goal is to extract the information conveyed through the data and to facilitate communication.
If you want your site to pay attention to the information you convey through the encrypted data converted into a chart, make sure that the chart you have created is aesthetically pleasing.
However, do not impress your targets too much with a graphic that is too flashy to hide the information you want to convey.
Understand the principle of data visualization
Remember that data visualization helps to understand the meaning of information. It is also an effective communication tool.
Charts that you create to represent data attract your targets better and the information you provide is more easily retained. You need to exploit the aesthetic side of your graphics because it ensures a better understanding of your prospects.
In addition, do not focus too much on aesthetics when you represent data through graphics. If they are too impressive, your targets will linger and neglect the meaning of the information to be transmitted. In short, you must give aesthetics to your graphics without exaggerating.
What qualifications to do data visualization
Certainly, data visualization is an effective marketing tool when it comes to communicating encrypted data to as many people as possible.
If you want to achieve a graphic representation worthy of the name, you must master different areas including cognitive science and technology.
If you master the technology environment, you will have no trouble choosing the software and applications that will allow you to draw the most appropriate graphics.
As for the sciences of cognition such as the sciences of perception and psychology, you must have the right bases to identify the most effective method for communicating information.
Exploiting data visualization to develop its business related to commerce
If you own a B2B company, you do not have to remember the amount of data you have to manage on a daily basis.
If you want this data to be accessible to as many people as possible, you need to integrate a data visualization process with the devices that process this data every day.
You can then better communicate the information to your targets. Indeed, once the data present in the commercial CRM is mounted in graphical form, the most relevant information is highlighted.
Your sales representatives can then adopt a more effective commercial approach. In summary, will data visualization contribute to your success if you are a business?
What are the best data-visualization tools?
The tools of data visualization are multiple except that one identifies some which are more powerful than others.
To help you make a choice, we have chosen some effective tools that you can use for a data visualization worthy of the name.
The choice of these tools depends among other things on your sector of activity. If you are a startup or a marketer, here are some data-visualization tools that you can exploit:
It is a free cloud tool signed by Google.
With Google Data Studio, you can report from Google suite data ( Google ADS for example)
Thanks to its connectors and an API, it can also manage external data sources. It is easy to use and does not allow the creation of dynamic reports from scratch or using a template.
Periscope data is a powerful platform dedicated to Data Analysis. It can gather all the data from your company and create reports.
With this tool, you can easily convert your encrypted data into easy-to-understand graphs or reports. It is powerful but quite expensive to buy count more than 1000 € per month for basic versions, it often offers a free test of 7 days to see if the solution can be interesting for your business.
Periscope is also able to output illustrations in heat map format.
Chartio was designed to enable startups and marketers to better exploit data.
This tool has a number of connectors including Microsoft Azure, Google BigQuery, MySQL, Amazon RedShift, CSV Files, Oracle, Google Analytics, Google Sheets and many more. The tool is also paying ($ 150 / month / user or $ 249 / month / team.
Chartio integrates two modes namely SQL and drag, You will not have any problem for getting started, which seems easy thanks to the videos and tutorials provided online.
The slogan is quite ambiguous: Avoid falling into the routine with report creation and focus on analyzing the data that matters to your business.
An effective tool for more data reporting. This solution works in an SQL environment.
You can integrate multiple SQL databases and execute ad-hoc queries.
With this tool, the pain is much less important because starting from 50 dollars per month you will be able to do a complete immersion with regard to data visualization
The tool is self-service and offers the creation of interactive dashboards in real time it is also possible to send reports via Slack or email from Holistics.
Designed for data analysts, Holistics provides an ideal workspace for analyzing your data. The integrated analysis helps you create external dashboards with which your partners/customers can interact within your own application.
This tool is a true reference in terms of data visualization: It allows you to create graphs, tables, maps or infographics from any type of data.
- You will enjoy an intuitive interface.
- To transfer data, a simple drag and drop are enough.
- The graphics that you will realize with this tool are automatically updated.
Tableau allows you to integrate the analysis into your own web application (via an iframe) so that your customers can view the reports / analyzes related to their data.
To exploit all its performance, count $ 70 per user per month.
With Qlick, make quality reports and easy-to-understand graphs from a remarkable amount of data.
- Qlick contains two tools namely QlikView and QlikSense.
- To import data, you just have to drag and drop and you do not need any technical knowledge.
- The tool is compatible with any type of data.
It’s the tool you need if you want to better understand your data for better use. It is able to analyze different types of data from a large number of sources.
Afterward, it creates personalized dashboards and graphs that are easy to understand.
Looker works with subscriptions ranging from $ 3,000 to $ 5,000 per month for 10 users and $ 50 per month for each additional user.
This data visualization tool is particularly powerful and is aimed at large companies. To be more precise, it is a Data Storytelling tool that will allow you to create high-quality reports.
As for the interface, you will have no problem with the grip because it is mobile compatible and allows users of tablets, and other mobile devices to enjoy a neat interface.
Toucan Toco is a way to easily access your data wherever you are and when you want and especially on your mobile devices!
If you are a developer
If you run a developer business or are an independent developer, there are a number of tools that can make your life easier.
FusionCharts is one of them
Fusion charts is a Javascript mapping library and contain a large number of graphics as well as 1400 maps that you can use in the processing of your data.
The interactive dashboards and maps that can be created with this high-quality tool, the formulas range from a few hundred euros to several thousand for companies that manage a large number of developers.
Impossible to make a listing of data visualization tools without mentioning Exhibit.
The exhibit is an open source data visualization software that allows you to create interactive maps and developers to create web pages that support sorting, filtering and rich visualizations.
The exhibit is integrated into a larger project: SIMILE, which focuses on developing robust, open source tools that enable users to access, manage, visualize and reuse digital assets.
Conclusion on data visualization tools
There are many data visualization tools, free tools, and other very expensive tools, if you are processing a large volume of data, you are certainly aware of the need to entrust some data analysis tasks to powerful tools.
Data visualization is neither more nor less than a means of facilitating the processing of large amounts of data through neat user experience and easily recognizable and identifiable visual elements.
New digital uses now require decision-makers to understand data more precisely to facilitate decision-making.
In terms of data processing, things have evolved enormously with artificial intelligence or machine learning.
Science fiction is getting closer and closer to reality, and some choices, once entrusted to human intuition, are now supported by computers with unlimited computational powers.
If decision-making is accelerated and extraordinary amounts of data can now be processed, it is more than ever necessary to understand and synthesize this treatment to allow humans to maintain control over the machine.
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